Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Concussion Review (2015)

Peter Landesman’s “Concussion” tells an important and
fascinating story in the most conservative way. It’s a showcase for a talented
group of actors more than anything else and while there’s nothing to really
dislike about it there isn’t a whole lot to love in terms of structure and
presentation.

Based on the GQ article “Game Brain” by Jeanne Marie Laskas,
“Concussion” follows pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu, (Will Smith) a Nigerian
immigrant currently based in Pittsburg. It’s established early on that he doesn’t
do things the normal way; in fact it’s explicitly stated in dialogue. When he does
autopsies he listens to music via headphones and talks to his “clients” to get
to know them, which causes him to take his sweet time and annoy his co-workers.
It’s through this curious fascination with the dead that leads him to Mike
Webster, a hall of fame football Center who died in shame (suffering from
dementia and plunging into financial ruin).

To cut right to the chase Omalu uncovers a shocking truth:
playing football long-term can cause serious long-term brain damage. As more
former football players die from similar circumstances Omalu, with the help of
his superior Dr. Cyril Wecht (Albert Brooks) and former Pittsburg Steelers team
doctor Dr. Julian Bailes (Alec Baldwin), works to bring this realization to
light, a realization the NFL has been covering up. The picture is a classic
“individual-takes-on-a-corrupt-system drama.” Omalu is an outsider both to
America and the sport (he doesn’t know a thing about football). Since its
inception in nineteen twenty, the NFL has evolved not only into a major
business entity but a staple of American society and culture. When Wecht tells
Omalu that the NFL “owns a day of the week” there’s something almost staggering
about hearing that.

The movie focuses on Omalu and his investigation while the
actual NFL stays primarily in the shadows. It could be argued that “Concussion”
lets the NFL off a little too easy but at the same time, had the movie been
more scathing and critical I don’t think it would be entirely genuine. Omalu
isn’t trying to attack or totally vilify the NFL nor is he trying to ban
football; instead he simply wants awareness and acknowledgment on their part
that concussions are a very serious and real issue.

Smith does his best work here in a while. Based on his past
few credits (“After Earth,” “Men in Black 3”) I realize that’s not saying much,
but in “Concussion” he gives an assured authentic performance--playing Omalu
with humility and humor as well as a slight undertone of arrogance and
self-righteousness. Brooks, Baldwin and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Prema Mutiso
(Omalu’s girlfriend and eventual wife) also turn in strong work even if they’re
not in the movie nearly enough (especially Brooks).

Landesman’s direction is competent and overall the picture
is more focused than his debut “Parkland.” Yet “Concussion” never quite pops
off the screen the way it should; Landesman’s screenplay is procedural to a
fault. For most of the running time I sat and watched from a distance, never
getting totally absorbed in the material, never feeling tense or worked up,
even as Omalu digs deeper and the N.F.L. gets angrier. There’s very little
surprise-- even as someone who knew nothing about Omalu or this story (aside
from very basic knowledge that football causes long-term brain damage) I could
sense every big turn and revelation well before it arrived. Additionally the
film suffers from too much obvious cliché dialogue (at one point Mutiso says to
Omalu right before he first discovers the truth about concussions: “Are you
afraid of what you will find…or what you wont find?”) that further distances
the viewer from the material. All in all, Landesman spells things out a little
too clearly, not leaving much for us to think about. The ending is particularly
unsatisfying, wrapping things up too neatly.

On top of all that, as good as Mbatha-Raw is, she isn’t
given a lot to do. Once Perma becomes Omalu’s wife her role is significantly
minimized, showing up every now and then to give him cliché motivational talks.
Perma becomes more of a background character, which in turn lessens the impact
of a major third act moment involving her character. It’s a moment that should
be devastating but instead we’re left cold.

In the end, “Concussion” is a perfectly decent, harmless
film; one that you can rent a few months from now and forget about. That being
said, due to the importance of the story and subject matter one can’t help but
be mildly disappointed with Landesman’s film.